Review: The Hapless Valet

 

Len Stevens brings sparkle and snap and a little old-fashioned Hollywood glamor to his debut mystery novel, The Hapless Valet. In what will hopefully be the first of a series, the dashing hero Draper Burns – a “gentleman’s gentleman” fresh from duty in the French Foreign Legion, with a penchant for Shirley Temples, a way with the ladies, and an eye for fancy men’s watches – is sent to evaluate his employer’s investment in a movie being filmed in Portland.

After a suspicious “suicide” on the movie set, Draper starts seeing connections between the film’s stars, a retro jazz club, an animal rights protest turned ugly, local thugs, a right-wing tabloid, and a Mexican drug lord. There are times when the sheer number of characters and sub-plots verge on overwhelming the story, but Stevens manages to keep it all moving forward and eventually ties up every loose string – even the thing about the watches.

As a cross between James Bond and Bertie Wooster, Draper Burns makes an appealing hero. And Stevens make an appealing new author, with an ear for dialog and an eye for comic detail. The Hapless Valet is a fun, off-beat mystery that is sure to entertain.

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NOTES

See my interview of Len Stevens, here.